The nervous system has the capacity to change based on experience. This plasticity is thought to underpin the formation and retrieval of memories. How plasticity of individual neurons contribute to learned behavior is a fundamental, and unanswered...
The healing effects of stem cells in spinal cord injury can be aided by their ability to hitch intercellular rides to specific anti-inflammatory cells called M2 macrophages, Yale researchers report.
Yale University researchers had previously shown that...
The mating display of the male bird of paradise owes its optical extravagance to a background so black it is the envy of telescope and solar panel engineers, according to a new study published Jan. 9 in the journal Nature Communications.
Their velvety...
DNA is packaged tightly within the cell’s nuclear membranes, which contain channels that regulate the transit of macromolecules governing all of life’s functions. Yale University researchers have built a nanoscale replica of this channel and have...
All DNA is sealed within the cell’s nuclear membrane, which protects it from molecular marauders. But what happens when that protective envelope rips? Yale researchers tracked the repair process in developing embryos of the worm C. elegans.
In cells with...
Optimism about the future of others is widespread even in the face of bad news — at least if the person is someone we care about. However, we can feel this optimism even for strangers if they possess a few admirable attributes, a new study by Yale and...
Human cancers often have a little recognized ally — the increased size and number of a cell’s organelles called the nucleolus. The nucleolus is where ribosomes, the cellular protein factories, are made. Ribosomes can also be hijacked by cancer to...
A genome-wide analysis of more than 5,000 opioid users has revealed a gene variant associated with opioid dependence in European-Americans. The new study builds upon earlier work by Yale researchers who identified a different group of variants associated...
Our brains are bombarded with information about events around us, but we only become conscious of a few of them. Yale researchers have captured what happens in the split second before the emergence of consciousness, a fundamental state of human life.
“...